A slur commonly used by Italians and Italian-Americans to denote a person of color. Melanzane in Italian means "Eggplant", which itself is used as a slur against blacks because of the almost black color of an eggplant.

The word Melanzane (or Melanzana) derives from the words Mela Insana, meaning "noxious apple". It is often pronounced "Moolinyan" and written as such.